In the Photo above, CHP Officer Pierman and a Mendocino County Sheriff confer with the demonstrators about their well being and discuss their plans around the lock down.

Work at the Caltrans Willits Bypass project was once again delayed when it was discovered that two protesters, Jamie Chevalier and Travis Jochimsen, had used metal lockboxes to lock themselves to a wick drain augur, a tool used in the process of draining the wetland area along the bypass construction site. The two were locked to the augur for around five hours before they were arrested -see photos below. Photos on this page are by Ree Slocum Photography.

Use the player to hear more on this story in a piece aired on Mon, May 20, 2013, by KMUD News Correspondent Christina Aanestad. The audio clip begins with an interview with Sarah Grusky of Save Our Little Lake Valley.

Confrontation escalated this morning, April 2, 2013, between those protesting the Caltrans Willits Bypass Project and California Highway Patrol Officers, the agency charged with safety and enforcement at the project site. Using CHP SWAT Officers trained in climbing techniques, the tree-sitter known as Warbler, who was also engaged in a hunger strike, was removed from high in the tree that she has occupied for over two months. Additional tree-sitters were extracted by the CHP team later in the day.

In response to today's removal of Willit's Bypass Project protestors, by the California Highway Patrol, California Senator Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) issued a statement which can be read below.

Use the player below to hear details on this story in a piece aired on the KMUD Local News on Tues., April, 2, 2013 by KMUD News Director, Terri Klemetson.

CHP was deployed to remove the protestors of the Willits Bypass Project just hours before I was set to meet with the director of Caltrans to have my questions answered. According to some reports, protestors in trees were extracted by CHP using "rubber bullets", and that CHP officers significantly outnumbered protestors.

I am shocked and dismayed at what seems to be an excessive use of force on unarmed protestors.

Thus far, I feel Caltrans and CHP have been slow to respond to my questions and quick to act regarding the Bypass Project.

It also was extremely disturbing to learn that the press was excluded from observing the removal of the protestors.

I had asked to be kept informed on a daily basis prior to any extraordinary action on this project as I represent the 1.3 million Californians living in the Second Senate District where this project is taking place. Regretfully that did not happen today.

The protest against the Willits Bypass Project is escalating, and according to the KMUD Local News Broadcast, aired by News Director, Terri Klemtson, Thurs., March 21, 2013, the California Highway Patrol stepped up their presence at the project site, and as of 2:30 pm eight people had been arrested.

Use the player below to hear more including:

An interview with a CHP Officer

An interview with a Caltrans spokesperson

Opinions from a tree sitter ("Warbler")

An interview with a spokesperson from the Environmental Protection and Information Center(EPIC)

The press release below dated, March 21, 2013 was jointly released by three environmental groups: Center for Biological Diversity, Willits Environmental Center and EPIC.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Two-dozen conservation and community organizations are joining together to take on irresponsible and damaging highway-widening projects around the state by the California Department of Transportation. The Caltrans Watch coalition cites wasteful spending, institutionalized disregard of environmental regulations designed to protect natural resources, and a pattern of refusal to address local community concerns. A dozen of the groups are calling on Caltrans to halt construction on the controversial Willits Bypass project in Mendocino County.

“With devastating budget cuts to education, health and social services and the state park system, how can Caltrans squander $350 million on five unnecessary highway widening projects in Northern California, with severe environmental impacts?” asked Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Someone needs to give ’em a brake. Where’s the oversight and accountability to rein in the pervasive problems at Caltrans, like refusal to consider reasonable alternatives to massive highway projects, shoddy environmental review, no transparency, faulty data and disregard for public input?”

"The Willits community is coming to realize what a disaster the Willits Bypass will be for our environment and our town,” said Ellen Drell of the Willits Environmental Center. “The project should be stopped until Caltrans adequately evaluates less damaging alternatives. We want our transportation dollars and construction jobs directed toward locally appropriate infrastructure that doesn't bankrupt the state, further trash our natural resources or ignore the $300 billion highway maintenance backlog.”

“From the wild canyons of the Smith River, through the redwood parks of Humboldt, to the wetlands headwaters of the Eel River at Willits, Caltrans is running roughshod over the North Coast,” said Natalynne Delapp of the Environmental Protection Information Center. “Local communities are trying to engage the agency to develop appropriate transportation solutions, but Caltrans continues to bulldoze us with archaic projects straight out of the 1950s, that benefit only a limited group of economic interests.”

Despite a pending lawsuit filed by conservation groups challenging the Willits Bypass — a proposed four-lane freeway to be built through sensitive wetlands around the community of Willits — Caltrans has stated its intention to cut down mature oak forests, remove brush and destroy riparian vegetation along critical salmon streams before the case can be heard in federal court this summer. State Sen. Noreen Evans earlier this month sent a letter to Caltrans echoing community concerns over whether there is a need for a four-lane project, why other alternatives or routes were not seriously examined, and if less environmentally destructive solutions to address local traffic congestion were feasible. For now, protestors and a tree-sitter in the path of Caltrans’ proposed superhighway have prevented tree and vegetation removal.

Caltrans has consistently refused to consider less expensive and ecologically damaging alternatives to highway widening projects that could accomplish safety and transportation objectives, and has ignored public concerns, input and opposition. The coalition points to half a dozen highway-widening projects being pursued by Caltrans that are not needed to achieve the stated safety or transportation access purposes:

* The $10 million Richardson Grove project to widen and realign Highway 101 through Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County, damaging prized old-growth redwoods to supposedly increase access for large commercial trucks;* The $210 million Highway 101 superhighway the size of Interstate 5 around Willits, not needed for local traffic volumes, requiring the largest wetlands fill permit in Northern California in the past 50 years and running through headwaters of salmon-bearing streams and habitat for endangered plants;* The $19 million Highway 197/199 widening projects in Del Norte County along the “wild and scenic” Smith River to accommodate oversized commercial trucks, with impacts to old-growth redwood trees;* The $76 million Niles Canyon highway-widening project in Alameda County, a “safety” project stopped by a citizen lawsuit. Caltrans now admits the widening is not needed and the Federal Highway Administration recently concluded it is not warranted by the state’s safety data. It would have cut 600 riparian trees and added four miles of cement retaining walls and rip-rap along a regionally significant stream for steelhead trout;* The $50 million Calera Parkway project to double the width of Highway 1 in Pacifica, in San Mateo County, with impacts to endangered frogs and garter snakes.

The coalition supports safe roadways and sensible transportation planning. For each of these projects the organizations have expended considerable effort through the available public review processes to encourage Caltrans to pursue reasonable and effective safety or access upgrades that would avoid needless environmental destruction. These efforts have largely been frustrated by Caltrans’ refusal to even evaluate viable alternatives proposed by the affected communities.

The pattern of flawed decision-making and inadequate environmental review by Caltrans has forced community organizations to resort to litigation as the only remaining avenue to seek redress. The coalition cites systemic problems within Caltrans, beginning with the manner in which transportation infrastructure needs are identified, the proposed solutions to address those needs, incomplete and inadequate review of environmental impacts, and disregard for concerns of local communities.

In a letter addressed to Caltrans Director, Michael Dougherty, dated March 5, 2013, California District 2 Senator, Noreen Evans, communicated concerns and asked a number of questions, on behalf of her constituents, regarding the current Willits Bypass Project.

KMUD News Director, Terri Klemetson, aired the piece below on the KMUD Local News, Tues. March 12, 2013, featuring a report on the Evans letter by Jennifer Poole, Editor of the Willits Weekly and KMUD News Correspondent.

Update: Thurs., June 20, 2013 - Construction halted in wetland draining work area of the Willits Bypass Project.

The audio in the player below, submitted and aired by KMUD News Correspondent Eileen Russell, was broadcast on the KMUD Local News Thurs., June 20, 2013 and includes interviews with protesters, as well as representatives from Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol.

Use the player below to hear: "Willits Bypass slowing Down", including more on the impact of the Willits Bypass Project on nesting birds. This piece was aired on Wed., Feb 27, 2013 by KMUD News Coordinator, Christina Aanestad.

Use the player below to hear: "Willits Bypass protests continue" including the alledged finding of bird nests on the project construction site and "security" of the protest tree sit area. This part of the story was aired on Tues., Feb. 26 2013 by KMUD News Director, Terri Klemetson.

KMUD news has been following the progress of the Willits Bypass Project as tensions build between those protesting the project and Caltrans, the government agency in charge of the project.

Use the player below to hear an audio clip, aired by KMUD News Coordinator Christina Aanestad, which includes interviews with Naomi Wagner of Earth First, Caltrans Spokesperson, Phil Frisbie, and Treesitter, Warbler. This story was aired on KMUD Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013.

See the posts below for previous updates, background and the original post on the Willits Bypass story.

Update-Jan. 28, 2013:

This Monday, Jan. 28, about 30 to 40 protestors participated in a rally and organized a tree sit just off Highway 101, at the south end of Willits, to protest the proposed Willits Bypass Project.

Use the player below to hear more about the demonstration opposing the Willits Bypass, including interviews with demonstrators and a Caltrans representative. This piece was aired by KMUD News Correspondent, Christina Aanestad on the KMUD Local News Monday, Jan. 28, 2013.

24-year old Amanda Senseman, also known as "Warbler", sits in a tree to stop the Willits bypass.

The original post of the proposed Willits Bypass Demonstration can be viewed below.

For a number of years there has been a proposal to reroute Highway 101 around the downtown Willits area, the so-called Willits Bypass. According to the Caltrans website:“Route 101, functionally classified a principal arterial route, is the single north-south route serving the length of coastal California and is crucial in the commerce of northwestern California. On Route 101, trucks and passenger vehicles transport goods and people to and from the many communities throughout the region. In the Willits area, it serves an increasingly heavy commuter, recreational and commercial traffic demand. Lack of capacity and congestion has resulted in delay and lengthy traffic queues within the project limits north of the city limit.”

In September, 2012, concerned that the bypass project would harm wetlands, salmon streams and endangered plants, a number of environmental groups including: the Center for Biological Diversity, Willits Environmental Center, Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club and EPIC, requested a preliminary injunction to stop the proposed bypass. Early in November of 2012 that injunction was denied by a federal judge and the work on the bypass is ready to begin as soon as funding for the project is designated.

Use the player below to hear more on this story, including a planned protest of the project on Monday, Jan.28. The piece was introduced and aired by KMUD News Coordinator, Terri Klemetson, and produced by Rian Marie and Cody Mark.

According to a Press Release from the California Farm Bureau Federation, dated July 23, 2012:Saying that a highway project has turned into a farmland-conversion project instead, the California Farm Bureau Federation filed documents requesting that state and federal agencies review and reduce the impact on agricultural land. The case involves a planned Highway 101 bypass around the city of Willits.

Acting in federal court in San Francisco, CFBF filed a motion to join in an existing lawsuit that challenges environmental review of the Willits Bypass Project; defendants include the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Transportation.

In its motion, Farm Bureau notes that the bypass originally would have affected 150 acres of farmland. But now, more than 2,000 acres of land will be affected-with at least 400 acres removed permanently from agricultural use-as government agencies seek agricultural land to mitigate for wetlands affected by the bypass.

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